Bipolar Web site offers spartan content, long registration

Bipolar Web site offers spartan content, long registration

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical have launched bipolaroptions.com, an unbranded Web site with an accompanying TV commercial for their bipolar disorder drug Abilify. However, before users can view any of the site's content, they must complete an eight-step registration process that not only asks about their history with the disease, but also requires personal information such as name, address, and email. Once the registration is complete, the site's content seems to consist of only four PDF downloads. The TV commercial, which is available on the site's home page after an intro, directs users to the site or to a call center for more information if their current treatments aren't what they "expected" them to be.